The U.S. may have no credibility nor bargaining position with the people of the western world, but it still manages to call the shots politically. Even Canada has turned into a puppet government. People know it here, but can't seem to get a grip on how to change that. I think this is a problem the whole world over. The U.S. government may be among the worst for being out of control and literally against its own citizens, but I believe that is a problem many other countries are also facing at this time.

I only get local (so called "farm") eggs. They're not remotely like city eggs. The yokes are yellow and they're fresh. I still can't get used to eating them raw though. When I was a kid and for many years thereafter I used to love raw eggs, but all the advertising about salmonella has spoiled my appetite.

You make a good point about misunderstanding domestic abuse. I also think that it is a mistake to minimize the immediacy of the issues in one's home environment.

That said, when you used the words "a place of systematic dehumanization and terrorization from the ABUSER." I wonder if there is not some value in looking at the Government spying in that way too. Yes, there is not the urgency of a home situation, but are people not being dehumanized en-mass by the current situation? Life in North America was certainly so different 50 years ago as to be almost unrecognizable now. The psychological environment of today's society is certainly not healthy, being full of paranoia, nervous reaction, and yes, complacency. The NSA situation is only part of what is happening. In fact it is really just a symptom, as is domestic spying. People are afraid, but they don't say so directly.

Another thing about anonymity and this site compared to Torrentfreak and why I don't mind using my real name in either place. On TF one is likely to get nasty comments for no intelligent reason. The fact is that they are just insults. That's all they are, and therefore meaningless. On a site like Techdirt, If I got a nasty comment, I would suspect that it could possibly be intelligent and therefore I would read it twice instead of ignoring it. In either case, I don't feel that there is anything wrong with having it attached to my name. I would feel very uncomfortable using anon, but (like I said above) it is extremely important to have it for those that want or need it.

I always use my real name on the internet and I've commented on Torrentfreak too. I should probably have known better, but it is a mostly childish crowd there. As soon as I figured that out, I also knew that there was no value in reading the comments nor participating. No big deal though. But why would it matter if they knew my name there?

However, this site is unusually free of idiots and ill behaving kids. Very nice. Also, if Techdirt didn't support anonymity, I wouldn't feel good about participating here. Regardless of any benefits or lack thereof, it is simply the ethically correct policy.

I have a local radio station which is for personal use. It only covers about a block, and I doubt anybody else listens. The thing is that commercial vs. personal is a very wide area. I assume that the judge would think that the court was commercial since he's probably getting paid and making money at this. Sure, that sounds silly, but is there some confusion between "commercial" and "public" in this ruling?

No one? OK, I'll give 'er a try: The 370 uses US tech and was backdoored by the NSA. Snowden knew the secret of how to remotely re-program and command the on-board controls. How's that? And I'm no even wearing my "hat" yet.